I blacked out. What happened?

In the American cinema classic “Old School,” there’s a scene in which Will Ferrell’s character, Frank Ricard, finds himself in a debate competition.

Nicknamed “Frank the Tank” because of his college antics and not known for his intellect, Frank takes on the proposed topic of the debate:

“What is your position on the role of government in supporting innovation in the field of biotechnology?”

Again, Frank the Tank is a party animal whose wife tried to domesticate him, but discovered you just can’t cage a wild beast, as his “streaking in the quad” despite being in his 30s might suggest.

But Frank took on the question despite having debate teammates more qualified.

He answered with this:

“Recent research has shown the empirical evidence for globalization of corporate innovation is very limited. And as a corollary, the market for technologies is shrinking. As a world leader, it is important for America to provide systematic research grants for our scientists. I believe there will always be a need for us to have a well-articulated innovation policy with emphasis on human resource development. Thank you.”

Afterward, Frank’s knees weakened and he needed help standing up.

“What happened?” he asked. “I blacked out.”

It was like he'd had an out-of-body experience.

That’s how I felt last week.

What…just…happened?

Normally the basketball playoffs end with a flurry over the last two weekends.

The second-to-last weekend has the Class A and B state tournaments in Oklahoma City while 2A-4A are playing in area tournaments those same days throughout the state.

Then, on the last weekend, we culminate with state for 2A-4A.

Those two weeks are sort of like Charles Dickens’ opening to “A Tale of Two Cities,” which begins with “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…”

I LOVE state tournament time in Oklahoma City. But, man, does it wear me down.

But this year?

This year we added a little extra flurry in the second-to-last week.

Thanks to Mother Nature, we had to delay area tournaments for Class A and B and regionals for 2A-4A. It pushed them into that second-to-last week of the season.

So instead of having Monday-Wednesday to recover from the previous weekend’s games, we had ball on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

And then, on the last week, instead of having the aforementioned recovery time, we get started with state on Tuesday. That means games Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. That last part said, I’m a

That last part said, I’m a fan of the new state format.

Sure, it makes it tougher for schools who need to decide whether or not to let out for those early games (for those angry with Kingfisher’s decision to go virtual, it was quite literally the only choice available to them) and for folks to get off of work during the day.

However, the chance for every single team to play at State Fair Arena at least once is too good to pass up.

But it does make for a longer week…for sports writers, for fans, for the OSSAA staff…for everyone.

But it’s nothing compared to what that second-to-last week was like.

Fortunately for me and my streaming crew, David Glover was kind enough to assign Kingfisher a Class 4A regional this year.

If the regional had been somewhere else, the week could have been exponentially worse.

So that left us with games on Monday and Tuesday afternoon and Tuesday night.

After a brief rest Wednesday, the week kicked into high gear on Thursday.

For me, it meant a 1:30 p.m. game at the fairgrounds, a 3:30 p.m. game at Mustang High School and then a 6:30 p.m. game in Enid.

I covered the Okarche girls’ win at the arena, made it to Mustang for the end of the first quarter of Lomega’s win and then prayed police in Union City, El Reno, Okarche, Kingfisher, Dover, Hennessey, Waukomis and Enid paid little attention to the speeding Ram 1500 going north (for the record, Chris Simon made each and every one of those stops as well….and made it to Enid before me).

After Thursday night’s game, it was back to the office to finish up my stories and do all my normal layout work for the weekend paper (which is something I normally do Friday morning, but…).

On Friday, it was back to the Big House for Okarche’s 10:30 a.m. game, then back north to Enid for the Kingfisher girls’ 1:30 contest.

Then it was decision time: Back to OKC for Lomega’s semifinal game or stick around Enid for the Kingfisher boys’ area final?

I was sick of my truck’s windshield, so I went with the easier option and stayed in Enid and showed faith that the Lomega girls could pull through without my assistance. Somehow they man

Somehow they managed. (Ed. note: That option also afforded me the opportunity to dine on a Flamingo Lounge burger, but I promise that had nothing to do with my decision making.) Then on Saturday, it

Then on Saturday, it was back to OKC to cover the Lomega state championship game. I covered it, then sat at the arena and watched on my laptop as Russell Stitt, Kenny Lunsford, Dave Cameron and Eli Johnson broadcast the KHS girls victory in Enid.

I was right back at it Tuesday as we had 9 a.m. and 7:30 p.m. games in OKC.

But that was AFTER a Monday night that included the regular March meeting of the Kingfisher Board of Education (I cover each and every one of those) and then back to the office to lay out the Wednesday paper, because, well, I wasn't going to be in the office on Tuesday.

On top of that, I took part in Skordle's Playoff Preview Show along with The Sports Animal's Mark Rodgers and The Oklahoman's Cameron Jourdan. No doubt I'm the expert in that group.

The show was hosted by Andy Campbell, an attorney who was probably trying to charge by the hour for his services despite the rest of the panel carrying him through the show.

That led to a long Monday night and an even longer Tuesday, which saw my Maya and Russell Stitt share an unconfirmed three funnel cakes throughout the day.

More games at The Big House on Thursday, Friday and Saturday (and more funnel cakes for Maya and Russell).

When I finally came to on Sunday or Monday or whenever I did, I was continuing to struggle to figure out which day it was and had this constant nagging feeling that I should be in a gym somewhere.

But, man, was it fun.

You don’t do all of that unless your teams are winning and “my teams” were winning.

Does it kick my old tail?

When I was 22 I could eat it up and ask for more. But, as Roger Murtaugh

But, as Roger Murtaugh likes to say in Lethal Weapon: “I’m too old for this….” well, you know the rest.

Although it does hit harder in my advanced age, I wouldn’t change it.

Covering the teams I do affords me the chance for some tremendous stories and that’s what this job is all about.

This year we had five teams at the state tournament (out of a possible 12 in the county). If memory serves - and I don’t remember the year - seven is the most I’ve had at state.

More on those teams in upcoming editions, but we had a state quarterfinalist, state semifinalist, two state runners-up and a state champ.

That’s the potential for several great stories to tell.

In my years of doing this, I’ve been afforded the chance at a lot of those.

With Kingfisher’s win in Class 4A boys, I’ve now covered 22 basketball state champs from this county at State Fair Arena.

That. Is. Incredible. It also means I’ve spent a lot of years in those chairs (some way more comfortable than others) on press row.

While I’ve done some work for other press entities (CoachesAid and Skordle being at the forefront), it’s my Kingfisher County teams that brought me a very humbling honor on semifinal Friday at the Big House.

I was trotted out to mid-court during halftime of Kingfisher’s game with Crossings Christian School and presented the OSSAA’s “Media Excellence Award” by the honorable David Glover.

I tend to refer to it as the “Media Longevity Award” because I’m now one of the old guys on press row. 

Whatever you want to call it, I will, in fact, call it an honor.

Being honored like that certainly isn’t desired or sought after, but nonetheless to have people recognize you for the years you’ve put in makes it even more worthwhile.

My wife and daughter were there as were my dad, mom, both sisters, niece, nephew, uncle and I even was able to sneak a friend or two of my niece down on the floor seating.

And a lot of you were there, as well.

Of course, Glover intentionally dropped his cane to make me pick it up just to let everyone know who is still boss…but that’s OK.

It was a great night.

My years of hard work were validated even more… and both of “my teams” won their games that night.